Tromp U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,198 discloses a toilet seat provided with a clamping strip rotatable between a clamping position and a rest position. In the vertical position of the seat, the strip can clamp the paper sheet from a stock of paper sheets and carries the sheet along when the seat is moved to the horizontal position. Both the rotatable strip and the toilet seat are operated by the same control lever.
It is considered a disadvantage that an essential part of the device, namely, the rotatable clamping strip is journaled in the toilet seat itself. Besides, this device is complicated and costly.
Applicant's copending application Ser. No. 886,600, filed Mar. 14, 1978, is directed to an improvement over Tromp U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,198. In applicant's copending application, the device disclosed can operate fully independently of the toilet seat and can be used with toilet seats of standard construction. That device comprises a box-shaped container which holds a supply of paper sheets fitting the toilet seat, and is mounted adjacent thereto. A tilting mechanism is provided to which the container is pivotally secured so that when the tilting mechanism is operated, the container tilts and hinges from a vertical position to a substantially horizontal position over the toilet seat. A paper-driving roller is journaled inside the container, and a driving mechanism rotates the roller in one direction when the container moves from its substantially vertical position to its substantially horizontal position over the toilet seat.
The device disclosed in applicant's copending application represents a significant improvement over the prior art. However, that device contains certain disadvantages for the reason that a paper sheet is biased into engagement with the paper-conveying roller at all times, even when the device is not in use, and can result in the paper sheet sticking to the roller and resulting malfunction of the device. Furthermore, applicant's prior device includes a relatively large number of parts adding to its size, complexity, cost, and increasing the possibility of failure or malfunction.